Recently, functional studies of various sprouts, such as a soybean sprout, a daikon radish sprout, an alfalfa sprout, a broccoli sprout, a pea sprout, and a red water pepper, have been actively carried out. For example, it is reported that a production of vitamin C after germination significantly contributes to an antioxidant activity in a sprout.
Further, Patent Literature 1 discloses: a health food for preventing cancer, which contains, as an active component, a daikon radish seed or sprout, an aqueous, organic solvent, or organic solvent/aqueous based extract thereof, or a compound contained in the extract or a derivative thereof; a health drink for preventing cancer, which contains, as an active component, a raw daikon radish sprout juice, a daikon radish sprout juice from concentrate, or an aqueous, organic solvent, or organic solvent/aqueous based extract of a daikon radish sprout or seed; and a medicinal composition for preventing cancer, which contains, as an active component, a daikon radish seed or sprout, an aqueous, organic solvent, or organic solvent/aqueous based extract thereof, or a compound contained in the extract or a derivative thereof.
Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses that arctigenin contained in a burdock sprout inhibits the generation of a cancer stem cell.